Professors Dong Yajuan and Bo Xuejin of Shandong's Laiyang Agro-Science Institute collaborated with a Japanese university on the project. The new arrival is another breakthrough for the pair - back in 2001 they produced China's first cloned cow.

Chinese state television does, however, sound a note of warning with the statement that "further tests would be required on the calf as it grows to verify the effectiveness of the transplanted genes". ®